Here are this week’s Accolades, a roundup of some of the honors and accomplishments of College of Medicine and UAMS faculty, staff, residents, fellows and students I’ve heard about recently!
Visionary Leadership
Dr. Nirvana Manning, Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Director of the Women and Infants Service Line, is working tirelessly and passionately to make Arkansas a safer place for mothers and newborns. She received some well-earned recognition for her work and leadership as one of the Visionary Arkansans 2023 featured in Arkansas Times this month. Dr. Manning’s profile (click here for a PDF) notes her service on the Arkansas Maternal Mortality Review Committee, along with her participation in the documentary “Giving Birth in America: Arkansas” and the recent international “Women’s Voices” symposium sponsored by the Clinton Foundation. Dr. Manning explains the importance of working with every hospital in Arkansas that delivers babies to ensure they have the ability to address obstetric emergencies, the need for well-trained community health workers in rural areas, and for legislative extension of the coverage period for Medicaid after giving birth. Dr. Manning truly is making Arkansas a safer place to give birth, and is, indeed, nothing short of visionary.
Best Practice Guidelines
Clinical psychologist Dr. Sacha McBain, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Surgery’s Division of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, is a coauthor on the recently published “Best Practice Guidelines: Screening and Intervention for Mental Health Disorders and Substance Use and Misuse in the Acute Trauma Patient” from the American College of Surgeons. Dr. McBain served on the task force that produced the guidelines. She also developed the UAMS Trauma Surgery Psychology Consult service, with support from Surgery Chair Dr. Ron Robertson and Terry Collins, RN, Director of Trauma Services. The service was featured as a model program within the guidelines. Well done!
Excellence in Obstetrical Diabetes Education
A shout-out to Dr. Nafisa Dajani, Professor in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and the multidisciplinary team in the UAMS Obstetrical Center for the Management of Hyperglycemia in Pregnancy, which has received recertification for another four years from the Diabetes Education Accreditation Program of the Association of Diabetes Care & Education Specialists. Established in 1998, the UAMS program has been accredited since 2014. Last year, the team provided care and diabetes education for 379 patients. I join with Dr. Dajani in thanking Program Manager and pharmacist Mary Kate Clarkson, certified diabetic educator and registered nutritionist Andrea Tappe, registered dietician Laura Sanders and the entire team.
Professional Society Leadership
Dr. Srinivasa Gokarakonda, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, has been named President of the Arkansas Chapter of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI). Several other College of Medicine colleagues across multiple departments and divisions serve in leadership roles in the chapter, including Dr. Manisha Singh, President-Elect; Drs. Aravindhan Veerapandiyan, Supriya Jambhekar and Prasad Padala in Vice President positions; and Dr. Nihit Kumar, Secretary. AAPI Arkansas Executive Board members on our faculty include Drs. Shashank Kraleti, Rajani Jagana, Muthu Veeraputhiran, Ramakrishna Thotakura and Pavana Tirumanisetti, and Dr. Natasha Sra serves as Resident Representative. AAPI USA is a premier ethnic medical association and the second largest medical association next to the American Medical Association. AAPI Arkansas is one of the most active state chapters. Kudos to these COM team members for their service.
National Radiology Scholarship
Congratulations to first-year medical student Brittany Montgomery, M.S., M.B.S., on receiving a scholarship from the American College of Radiology to attend the ACR annual meeting in Washington, D.C., in May. The scholarship is designed to help medical students understand the importance of radiology as a critical component of patient care and provide networking and mentoring opportunities with practicing radiologists. The scholarship committee praised Brittany for her work ethic, commitment to education and passion for radiology. At UAMS, she is a member of the Interventional Radiology/Diagnostic Radiology interest group.